A few political thoughts

It may surprise you to learn– it surprises me to learn– that there are actually people who want to hear what I think about politics. Two or three at least.

It also may surprise you to learn that I actually have some interest in this blog. Too often I have a thought, intend to work it into a post, and never get there.

And so, to deal with both these things and not take up a whole afternoon: some recent political thoughts in bullet-esque form.

Ron Paul

Good domestic policy ideas, bad foreign policy ideas. Both fail to take into account that it’s 2012 and the world is what it is. You can’t wipe the slate clean and start all over.

Stop talking about how you’re the “only real conservative in the race.” You’re not a conservative; you’re a libertarian. Nothing wrong with that; they’re just two different things.

Good grief, are his fans obnoxious. My favorite thing to note: These people who pride themselves on thinking outside the box, not accepting the story they’re fed? All of them post the same comments, the same YouTube videos, the same everything within an hour of each other.

The weak Republican field

My theory is that a lot of the people we wish were in (Christie, Ryan, Daniels) thought about it, and thought about what it would be like to run against Barack Obama. He’s a great politician, so there’s enough of a challenge there. But he and his machine are also brutal,* and the press is right there with him. Whoever the Republican nominee is will be repeatedly called a racist homophobe who hates Muslims and poor people, and it will be relentless. So my theory is lots of these guys looked at that and said “You know what? I’m good. Maybe next time.”

Each probably made the best choice for themselves and their families, but increasingly I’m thinking along these lines: Our country needs some A-game conservatives to step up, and it’s frustrating that they haven’t done it.

* This link goes to an Ann Coulter column. I’m not a Coulter fan, but she had the most succinct summary of what I’m referring to. This is not an endorsement of Ann Coulter. I’m not a fan.

Newt

Yeah, about 3 of every 5 ideas he has are great. He’s a great debater, and he says the things we wish they’d all say. But… no. The personal history, the megalomania, the inconsistency, the fact that people who’ve served under him generally aren’t supporting him… just no.

It would be nice to have Newt debate Obama as Romney’s DH. The soundbites would be delightful.

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Comments

Thanks for your comments on Paul. Just as you’re sick of libertarians who think they are conservatives, I’m also sick of Conservatives who think they are libertarians.
In both cases, I agree with you that I’m absolutely fed up with these legions of ditto-heads who believe that everyone who doesn’t accept their utterly predictable, simplistic, and formulaic solutions to all problems must surely be an idiot or in chains to the mythical establishment. No, the money supply does not explain all economic problems. No trite free market formulations that only explain ideal situations which don’t actually exist anywhere don’t help us adjust our actual free market framweok to the real challenges it faces.

I have to disagree with you about Obama’s political skills; i think he’s quite a mediocre politician who isn’t close to having the political instincts or the abillity to frame issues politically in the way that someone like President Clinton could and can. The person in the Republican race with these political chops is definitely Newt. Watch his performance on “Meet the Press” from Sunday. It was a masterclass in issue framing and framing the choice between himself and his rival. Most of it was nonsense, of course, but brilliant.
I think where Obama excels is articulating vision and aspiration, which is very dependent on things outside of his control. I have my doubts that he can win an election of the kind that the White House is beginning to frame it to be. It doesn’t play to his skills. Having said that, unless something dramatically changes, the Republicans will not be offering a strong or attractive alternative.